Sleeping Patterns
by Coffee Paper
Summary: This is how Hermione and Harry sleep every night.


**SLEEPING PATTERNS**

"I love you," Harry Potter said one night, his hot breath brushing against her ear. A shiver coursed down her body, leaving a shake in her own breathing. She felt his body pressed against hers, his arms draped protectively around her. This was how the two of them had slept for the past three months. Hermione curled into him, fitting perfectly as if she were the missing piece to his whole. Harry's arms would wrap around her, draw her as close to him as possible to ensure nothing could harm her.

Hermione remained still in his arms, brown eyes now wide, staring into the empty darkness of the ceiling. The room held an illuminated light from the full moon seeping through the window. An angelic glow wrapping around the two best friends.

The words carried more than just a simple statement said by a best friend. Hermione heard between the lines of those three words many other things unsaid between them in the last three months. Neither of them were ignorant of the growing intimacy between them. Something melding their friendship into something _more_. Something both young wizards were afraid to reach for.

The first night Hermione crawled into Harry's bed had been after a terrible fight with her then-almost-boyfriend Ron Weasley. The two of them had been discussing where their relationship stood once the battle had been won and the in the moment kiss still lingered in the air. Ron wanted to jump into a relationship, something Hermione wasn't ready for. She needed to figure out where her life was going. Starting up a relationship with one of her best friends would only be a distraction.

Plus, the more she thought about it, the more she knew Ron and hers relationship was doomed before it even began.

The two of them would never work.

With tears in her eyes, and no place to go, Hermione Granger found herself at the doorstep of Harry's place. _He_ was the only constant in her life. The only person who'd never hurt her. Despite a small history of arguments littering their nearly eight years of friendship, any wounds inflicted were easily forgotten. Mended by the strong bond the two of them unmistakable shared. Of course she'd fall into his arms with tears in her eyes and a slightly cracked heart form the loss of a good friend.

 **x x x**

 _"Can I stay here?" The vulnerability seeped into her words, coated in wet tears._

 _"Come here," His arm were opened and Hermione fell into them, wetting the front of his shirt with her dampened face._

 _Half an hour later, Harry was leaving his room with a pillow stuffed under his arm and a rolled up blanket under the other. "Goodnight, 'Mione" A smile craved his face, never fully reaching his eyes._

 _"Harry?" His pace stopped at the sound of her voice, still holding a broken angle. "Will you stay with me? I don't want to be alone."_

 _There was an awkward beat of silence, Harry's green eyes glancing around the room with uncertainty before he nodded. Discarding his sleeping elements to the side, he slowly crawled into his bed beside her. The young wizard was conscious to leave enough space between them, not wanting to over step his bounds and leave his best friend uncomfortable._

 _Darkness surrounded them. They laid in silence, with only the hum of the outside world to fill the void. Both remained awake, lying in similar positions, their backs to each other, arms tucked under their bodies. Hermione could feel the heat of Harry's body under their shared covers. It was inviting - safe._

 _It was Harry who broke the silence. "Do you have nightmares?"_

 _"Some nights."_

 _"Me too..."_

 _Hermione remained quiet, listening to his breathing, waiting for the man beside her to fall into a deep sleep. His breath never fell into that blissful calming breathing only achieved by sleep. As she listened, knowing the horrors Harry must face in his dreams even with the terrors of reality being over, new tears seem to form. They didn't stop when she felt him move beside her, angling his body to face her. Nor did they stop when an arm wrapped around her. Drawing her into his warm secure embrace._

 _They only stopped when a gentle hand swept a few strands of dark, curly locks from her pale features._

 _"Hermione, what's wrong?"_

 _"I don't want you to hurt anymore."_

 _She felt the flinch Harry exuded at her words, heard the breath he slowly released. "Hermione, I am okay." This was the first time in all the times Harry Potter had uttered those words to her where she_ actually _believed him._

 _Her own body turned, wanting to stare into his crisp green eyes. Fully see the weight of his words. The man's arms didn't move, instead, as she regains comfort - facing him - he pulled her closer. There was only a faint glow from the half-moon hanging in the sky, but Hermione was able to clearly meet his gaze. What she found drew a gasp from her lips._

 _Harry was staring at her, hiding_ nothing _. The gaze locked with hers held a softness Hermione hadn't seen before. Even when the young wizard was still just a boy, he held a hardness in his eyes. A result from the trauma he'd been forced to endure from a young age. Now, at the age of seventeen, he could finally fall into a peacefulness he'd been deprived of all his life._

 _"Really?" The words barely moved her lips, sounding more like a breath of air than a spoken word._

 _"Really."_

 _With a gentle kiss on her forehead, the two of them fell asleep, their bodies entwined together. For the first time in weeks, the two of them had slept without a bad thought bleeding into their dreams._

 **x x x**

As the raven haired man fell into sleep, his breath evening out against her cheek, Hermione laid there trying to catch her own breath. They'd told each other they loved each other many times (especially in the last three months) but Hermione knew the weight in which these three words carried. They weren't the same _I love you_ they were a month ago.

It was the _I love you_ Hermione had dreamed about secretly as a school girl. It was the _I love you_ she'd been beginning to think she'd never get to hear. It was the _I love you_ she found herself wanting to say to Harry Potter but held tight between rose lips out of fear of detonating their beautiful friendship.

A soft smile soon replaced the expression of shock. Dark, chocolate eyes settled on the now sleeping form of Harry. With a soft touch of her slim digits, Hermione brushed the hair from his forehead. Taking note of how Harry no longer looked like a man stricken with war. They would always have their scars. They would always be kids forced to become soldiers in a war they inherited. Even still, they could now take life slow without the risk of the death looming over their heads constantly.

Hermione leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on the corner of Harry's mouth. "I love you,"

The young witch settled into his arms, burring her face in the wizard's neck. Sleep came quickly. She dreamed of what a future with Harry would entail and how she knew _this_ was how she wanted to sleep until she died.


End file.
